Openings and New Hires at MatchCraft, Gannett, bizHive and Google

Every two weeks, Search Influence’s Kelly Benish — who knows practically everyone in hyperlocal — covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. (Plus, scroll down for jobs on offer now.)

Jennifer Coats – MatchCraft
I was fortunate enough to work with Jennifer Coats on a training project this month in which I witnessed her innate ability to educate and leverage some of the leading digital talent in the world. As the former senior sales manager of training for Dex Media, Jennifer trained large groups of sales reps to become some of the most accomplished sellers in the nation. In her new role, she will be heading up training and development for MatchCraft with some of my favorite folks in the space. Congrats Jen!

Kelly Bolyard – West Hawaii Today
I’ve gotten to know Kelly quite well over the past two years, from back when she was the CMO of Strawberry Fields Marketing. Strawberry Fields Marketing was the digital agency for The Elkhart Truth, out of Indiana. When the agency started to dissolve, Kelly switched gears and became the VP of business development for The Elkhart Truth. When it was time to move on from there, Kelly had the opportunity of a lifetime to say “aloha” to the Stephens Media affiliate West Hawaii Today as their advertising director. A hui hou kakou Kelly Kells!

Oliver Vidinovski – Google
I had the opportunity to meet with Oliver Vidinovski this week who is Google’s new strategic partner manager — premier SMB partnerships — channel sales for North America (longest title in the world, Batman!) headquartered out of New York City. Oliver is the former head of digital operations for Fairfax Marketing Services in Australia. Oliver not only changed jobs but he’s relocated abroad to the Big Apple from Sydney, Australia.

Kim Feil – bizHiveKim Feil was recently named founding partner & CEO of Chicago-based venture bizHive. As the former EVP and chief marketing & strategy officer for OfficeMax, Feil seems highly qualified for the leadership role at this new venture. Over the last two years, she has also served as an advisor to some additional venture groups & startup businesses including Education Funding Partners and UrgentRx. She is also the former CMO of Sara Lee & Walgreens, and was also the senior marketing officer for Kimberly-Clark.

Gareth Charter – Gannett
Veteran consultant and newspaper publisher Gareth Charter, who was working as a full-time consultant (and Local Media Association board member), has joined G/O digital — Boston RAE for Gannett. With expertise on both the publisher and digital sales side of the coin, Gareth seems like a great fit for Gannett.

– The former Head of digital SME advertising products for a major EU telco is exploring opportunities for his next venture.

If you are interested in any of these candidates or you would like to be featured as such, please e-mail me at kellybenish@gmail.com for more information.

Kelly Benish is VP of sales and marketing at Search Influence, a national online marketing firm focused on SMBs and white label online marketing for publishers and media partners who serve them. You can follow her on Twitter @Lokellsearch.